Top 10 ten places to visit in South West England - Isles of Scilly

Explore Historic Sites

There are a plethora of historical monuments, buildings, graves, memorials, medieval forts and castles dotted throughout the Isles of Scilly. From a church lit only by candlelight, to castles and dungeons there is plenty to explore.

Each plays a part in telling the amazing and complex Scillonian historical story. Tales of shipwrecks, battles, looting, piracy and prime ministers can be found here.

Pay a visit to the 8 pointed Star Castle, now a hotel, built in the 16th Century to keep the Spanish Armada at bay. Situated on the historic Garrison, it affords amazing views across to the off-islands. Or what about Old Town church, still lit only by candlelight and final resting place of ex-Prime Minister Harold Wilson? Then there is the monument to Sir Cloudesley Shovell at Porthellick Down, captain of the HMS Association which sank in 1707 off the Western Rocks and is still the largest maritime disaster in British naval history.

Troy Town Maze on St Agnes was laid down in 1729 by the son of a local lighthouse keeper, not far from the first lighthouse built by Trinity House in 1680. Stroll around St Martin’s to see Napoleonic signal stations, or Tresco to climb up Cromwell’s Castle, a defence tower built in 1651-2. Then there are the deserted cottages on the uninhabited island of Samson.

More places to visit and days out in South West England

Map of St Mary's, main island of the Scilly archipelago